A delegation from the city came out to the port to meet with us and learn more from us about our reasons for traveling o their lands. The delegation consisted of four individuals, all men, dressed in black, white and gold robes that looked similar to what you would see a high priest wearing. The four men came aboard the ship to speak with us and apparently had not been informed by the sailors that there were three phoenixes aboard the ship. The delegates were taken aback by the sight of Myra, Igor and Ajax, and approached me with none of the confidence and authority with which they had approached and boarded the ship.

  “We have been informed that you have traveled here from the southern lands, is that correct?” One of the members of the delegation stepped forward and asked.

  “That is correct,” I stepped forward and answered.

  “We have also been informed that one of you is royalty.”

  “That would be me; I am Alegra Luthera, queen of the kingdom of Aseron.”

  “Why is a queen taking part in an expeditionary mission?”

  “I’m here purely out of curiosity.”

  “Some would see your decision to vacate your throne to participate in an expeditionary mission as a dereliction of your royal duty.”

  “The members of my court don’t, and neither do my citizens.”

  My answer gave the delegate pause.

  “Your beasts, are they fully under your control?”

  “You have nothing to fear from them, I assure you.”

  “Very well then; my name is Erevan Althidon, Queen Alleria’s chief attendant; the queen has been informed of your arrival and wishes for an audience.”

  “Is this the capital city?”

  “It is, the royal palace is located there, at the top of that mountain,” Erevan said, pointing behind me at a mountain that was so high the summit of it was shrouded in clouds.

  This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work.

  “Will we be flying to the palace?”

  “Queen Alleria is waiting for you at the Chamber of Elders, it’s where she carries out her duties as queen. We brought some carriages with us; we’ll be travelling there in those.”

  “That’s very courteous of you.”

  “Decide who you wish to be in your party and come and meet us at the carriages, we’ll depart as soon as you are ready.”

  The delegates bowed and disembarked from the ship, giving us time to talk before proceeding.

  “Uraia, you and Brumli will accompany me, the rest of you are to stay here with the ship; I don’t want anybody boarding the ship.”

  Before leaving the ship, I went over to Myra and pressed my forehead against hers.

  “I’ll call for you if I need you,” I communicated to her.

  Uraia, Brumli and I disembarked from the ship and walked down the pier to where two large carriages flanked by cavalrymen, in front of which stood Erevan, who was waiting for us at the end of the pier to receive our answer.

  “It’ll just be the three of us, the rest of the crew will remain with the ship,” I said to him.

  “Very well, we’ll depart immediately.”

  The four of us climbed into a carriage which was more than large enough to accommodate us and we set off. We entered the city on one of the main roads leading out of the port and attracted a great deal of attention from the citizens who were aware that travelers from a foreign land had come to their shores.

  “I was surprised to see a dwarf as part of your party, I wasn’t aware that there were dwarves in the southern lands,” Erevan said to me.

  “They have their own kingdom, it’s called Grunheim. How is it that you know about the dwarves?”

  “The dwarves, like us, are an ancient race; we have a long history of engagement with them.”

  “Is there a dwarven kingdom near here?”

  “There is, across the sea to the east; perhaps that will be your next destination on your expedition.”

  “Is it close enough for us to fly there?”

  “We have no trouble flying there on our rocs; if your phoenix has the same stamina you should have no problem.”

  “Their stamina is just fine, so I expect we will be making that trip.”

  Brumli, I could tell, had been unsettled by the knowledge he had acquired of the existence of dwarves in this faraway land. Although it was well outside of our stated mission for this expedition we had to go and see them, I owed it to Brumli.

  The journey to the Chamber of Elders wasn’t a long one; we spoke no more with Erevan over the course of our journey there, which we spent looking out of our carriage at the extraordinary craftsmanship of the elves’ construction. Their structures looked more like sculptures, the beauty of them was unlike anything we had seen before and it gave rise to questions about whether their society was more advanced than ours. The fact that all of their ships that we saw at the harbor were sail ships led me to believe at first that there was no possibility of their society being more advanced than ours with us having mastered mechanical power but perhaps the elves had access to knowledge that was alien to us.